thedrifter
07-06-05, 07:36 AM
A gift from the sea
Sailors share their lives aboard an aircraft carrier with hospital patients
By Elizabeth Baier
Staff Writer
July 6, 2005
Aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Jason Dawson works as an information technician. On Tuesday, he took a break from his ship duties to sit with Helen Curtis, a patient at North Broward Medical Center's rehabilitation center.
He told her stories about everyday life aboard the aircraft carrier. After work, crewmembers go to the gym, rent movies, play video games and send e-mails to family back home.
What you really have to get used to, Dawson told Curtis, "is falling asleep with the noise of the planes above."
The 5,500 crewmembers on the USS Roosevelt docked at Port Everglades on Monday to restock on a routine supply stop. Seven crew of the aircraft carrier, including Dawson, visited recovering patients as part of a voluntary community outreach program.
"It gives me the chills when I see the carriers arriving at the port," Curtis, 80, told Dawson. "It's a beautiful thing to see. ... It makes me so proud to sit there and look at these ships coming in."
Along with Dawson were Roosevelt crewmembers Melvin Go, an aviation structural mechanic; Andrei Chendea, an aviation electrician's mate; Crystal Parker, an air traffic controller; Paul McKeon, commander and navigator; and Peter Higley and Rich Crayne, both aviation electricians.The missile cruiser USS Gettysburg and the destroyers USS Donald Cook and USS Oscar Austin also are docked at Port Everglades until Friday, when they will leave for Norfolk, Va. The carrier will be deployed to the Mediterranean Sea on Sept. 8, according to McKeon.
The Broward Navy Days Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides services to the Navy, Coast Guard and Marines, organized the event and others for the sailors during their Fort Lauderdale visit."What's great is that these sailors are doing this on their own time when they can be at the beach or at a bar instead," said Broward Navy Days Chairman Joe Millsaps. About a dozen sailors will volunteer with Habitat for Humanity to build houses today in Hollywood, Millsaps said. During the hourlong hospital visit in Deerfield Beach, the conversation ranged from how planes land on the carrier and why the US Navy does not allow alcohol aboard its ships while Britain and Australia do to how soda and fresh fruit are restocked when the carrier is out to sea.
The sailors told the patients how they appreciate the support from home, especially when deployed overseas during a holiday.
"It's so emotional when you're away and you get care packages from people other than our families," Crayne said. "A toothbrush to us is gold when we're out there."
For Deerfield Beach resident Tammy Holiday, 38, recovering from a fractured skull, seeing the sailors in their crisp white uniforms was unforgettable.
"For you to visit with us means the world to me," she said.
Elizabeth Baier can be reached at ebaier@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4637.
Ellie
Sailors share their lives aboard an aircraft carrier with hospital patients
By Elizabeth Baier
Staff Writer
July 6, 2005
Aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Jason Dawson works as an information technician. On Tuesday, he took a break from his ship duties to sit with Helen Curtis, a patient at North Broward Medical Center's rehabilitation center.
He told her stories about everyday life aboard the aircraft carrier. After work, crewmembers go to the gym, rent movies, play video games and send e-mails to family back home.
What you really have to get used to, Dawson told Curtis, "is falling asleep with the noise of the planes above."
The 5,500 crewmembers on the USS Roosevelt docked at Port Everglades on Monday to restock on a routine supply stop. Seven crew of the aircraft carrier, including Dawson, visited recovering patients as part of a voluntary community outreach program.
"It gives me the chills when I see the carriers arriving at the port," Curtis, 80, told Dawson. "It's a beautiful thing to see. ... It makes me so proud to sit there and look at these ships coming in."
Along with Dawson were Roosevelt crewmembers Melvin Go, an aviation structural mechanic; Andrei Chendea, an aviation electrician's mate; Crystal Parker, an air traffic controller; Paul McKeon, commander and navigator; and Peter Higley and Rich Crayne, both aviation electricians.The missile cruiser USS Gettysburg and the destroyers USS Donald Cook and USS Oscar Austin also are docked at Port Everglades until Friday, when they will leave for Norfolk, Va. The carrier will be deployed to the Mediterranean Sea on Sept. 8, according to McKeon.
The Broward Navy Days Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides services to the Navy, Coast Guard and Marines, organized the event and others for the sailors during their Fort Lauderdale visit."What's great is that these sailors are doing this on their own time when they can be at the beach or at a bar instead," said Broward Navy Days Chairman Joe Millsaps. About a dozen sailors will volunteer with Habitat for Humanity to build houses today in Hollywood, Millsaps said. During the hourlong hospital visit in Deerfield Beach, the conversation ranged from how planes land on the carrier and why the US Navy does not allow alcohol aboard its ships while Britain and Australia do to how soda and fresh fruit are restocked when the carrier is out to sea.
The sailors told the patients how they appreciate the support from home, especially when deployed overseas during a holiday.
"It's so emotional when you're away and you get care packages from people other than our families," Crayne said. "A toothbrush to us is gold when we're out there."
For Deerfield Beach resident Tammy Holiday, 38, recovering from a fractured skull, seeing the sailors in their crisp white uniforms was unforgettable.
"For you to visit with us means the world to me," she said.
Elizabeth Baier can be reached at ebaier@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4637.
Ellie